When Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera was arrested this weekend, he left behind twin daughters with matching pink suitcases and a wife who, like the wives of many crime bosses who came before her, was once a Mexican beauty queen in the Sinaloa.
In the clip above, 2013 Miss Venezuela First Runner-Up Wi May Nava describes the plastic surgery she underwent to compete in pageants (boob and nose jobs). She also talks about the piece of mesh that she has sewn to her tongue so that she can't eat solid foods (this description, btw, took place before she won her…
Apparently the National Costume Competition of the Miss Universe Pageant is largely a crash course in cultural stereotypes. While some contestants donned more traditional clothing from their home countries, others created extravagant costumes roughly inspired by their heritage. And Miss USA showcased two of the most…
Child beauty pageants are fucked up enough without adding a weird racial dimension to them, but if you're going to be terrible, you might as well be all-the-way terrible, right? The Little Miss Hispanic Delaware pageant — which exists because apparently the world doesn't mess with little girls' brains enough as-is —…
The Miss World pageant, being held in Indonesia this year, is supposed to about smiling beauty queens. But thanks to the Islamic Defenders Front, things are getting ugly.
There She Is, a new documentary short that follows two best friends competing in the 2011 American Beauties Plus Pageant, is an interesting glimpse into the world of pageants for large ladies. These women work on their evening wear looks, interview skills, and stage presence just like the Miss America crew, but you'll…
Question: "A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?"
NSA spies are just like us: they like to judge pretty girls in tiaras.
When the Miss World pageant began in London in 1951, the winner — Sweden's Kiki Haakonson — was crowned in a two-piece swimsuit. But this year, the pageant is being held in Indonesia — world's most populous Islamic country — and bikinis will not be present.
A former Miss California USA contestant who was "discovered" by Erik DeSando, one of the pageant recruiters whose questionable practices we exposed in our recent Miss USA investigation, says she was showered with compliments and special gifts allegedly from Donald Trump himself. She was promised fame and fortune — all if …
Ashleigh Blake never dreamed of becoming a beauty queen. The 21-year-old amateur model and part-time tutor fantasized about being a movie star or the next Glee triple threat, and posted her resume on the casting networking site GotCast in hopes that Hollywood might call. But when a recruitment associate for Miss…
If you haven't been paying attention, the newest Miss America of 2013, Mallory Hagan, lives in Brooklyn. But before you get to reeling from the notion that the epicenter of "all things ironic and progressive" could produce something so quaint, so old-fashioned, so retrograde, take comfort in knowing that she's actually…
Olivia Culpo has been crowned Miss Universe; it's the first time in 15 years that a Miss USA has taken home the tiara. Mascara! Everywhere!
Among the many important lessons Little Miss Sunshine taught us (Marcel Proust was gay! Family is important! The Air Force won't let you fly planes if you can't tell the difference between red and not-red, and your supercilious, suicidal uncle will tell you this in a condescending, oh-I'm-so…
Twenty-year-old Maria Susana Flores Gamez was found dead on Saturday night, with an assault rifle near her body. According to the AP:
In "Nothing Good Ever Came From or Happened At a Beauty Pageant with the Exception of Alana Thompson" news, a Brazilian beauty queen hopeful has allegedly confessed to plotting the murder of her perceived #1 competitor. It's like Drop Dead Gorgeous came to life but super sad because it's real (but also kind-of less sad…
The Miss America pageant used to be a great place to see incredibly conventionally attractive women answer questions about world peace and then march around in bathing suits. It's still a great place for that, but it's also a great place to get a peek into a sort of crystal ball of American politics, a showcase for…
When it was reported earlier in March that a transgender woman named Jenna Talackova would be a finalist in the Miss Universe Canada pageant, it seemed a fine, sunny day for the LGBT community, as Talackova's inclusion in the finals represented at least one step in the direction of wider social acceptance for…
Last night's Miss America pageant assembled some of the most esoterically talented women in the country on a single stage to dance ballet, sing opera, and try very hard not to blink under the blinding scrutiny of Kris Jenner. Though 52 of them have by this time today already sunk deep into the morass of ignominious…
When I told an acquaintance I was headed to Las Vegas this weekend for the Miss America pageant, she seemed momentarily confused. "Really?" she asked. "I didn't know they still…did that, to be honest." Oh, but they do.
And finally? I'll just leave you…
